


A Mirage

by vendelabelle67



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-14
Updated: 2020-06-14
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:48:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24720031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vendelabelle67/pseuds/vendelabelle67
Summary: Years after Derek Morgan left the B.A.U. he sees a very familiar lady outside his usual coffee shop in L.A.
Relationships: Penelope Garcia/Derek Morgan
Comments: 2
Kudos: 89





	A Mirage

**Author's Note:**

> Goodness, i haven't written fanfiction in years and years, I might be a bit rusty..please be kind.  
> This was inspired by watching S.W.A.T. and missing the hell out of some Garcia and Morgan action.
> 
> None of this belongs to me and no money is made from this story. I hope you enjoy.

A Mirage

Derek Morgan took his coffee strong, black and piping hot.

Standing at one of the high bistro tables close to the big window of his favorite coffee shop, he watched traffic and pedestrians pass by.

Suddenly his eyes went wide, he sucked in a breath, burning his tongue, spilling the liquid all over his pristine shirt. It simply could not be, not here..not now..the woman..busty, blonde, prominent glasses, fashionable, wearing a loud dress..

He dashed outside, frantically turning left and right, but she was gone. Heart rate still running a mile a minute, he tried to calm down. For goodness sake! He was 45..not 25..like when...SHE had been in his life..way back..He sighed and went inside to get the rest of his coffee. Then he had to go and change his flipping shirt.

-

Penelope Garcia was late....for her first day. Yes, she had called ahead, admitting she´d gotten lost on the highway, despite her navigation system. Her new boss, Carter Wallace had snickered.

“Happens to the best of us, Penelope, do not worry. We are very happy to get you on board.”

Wallace, head of a small, but prestigious security company was a lovely man. Married to his wife Tasha for 30 years, with three adult children and already 2 grandkids, he exuded calm and a humorous disposition. He had recruited her himself after getting tipped off by his old friend Rossi.

Almost sprinting on the sidewalk from the parking lot to the company’s offices she had felt an itch, a niggling, something on the back of her neck. Normally she would have investigated but she did not want to be later than late.

******

Penelope closed her laptop. It was already dark outside. There was a light knock on her doorframe.

“Come out for drinks with me and Monica?” Kenneth, her favorite colleague asked with a pleading look on his handsome face.

Soon she would be 6 months in L.A. Time had flown by. Her work was interesting and divers with lots of research. Her team was nothing to sneeze at either. Kenneth, Monica, Arleen and her had become a tight knit group.

“Sure. I’m thirsty. Where do you guys want to go?”

Monica appeared. “Chittychong on Wilshire? Asian fusion and awesome cocktails.”

“I’m in.”

“Me too”, Kenneth replied.

Amazingly they were seated after a mere 10 minutes wait.

They were just getting their drinks served when they heard loud noise.

“Gunshots”, Penelope informed, “get under the table.”

Without questioning her everyone ducked.

Police sirens blared, more shots were fired, luckily not inside the restaurant.

The manager had locked the door immediately and with the help of others set up barricades to prevent entry.

After a while that seemed like hours the ruckus died down.

“You are safe”, a voice through a megaphone announced. “This is the Metro Swat Team.”

Shaken they retook their seats. Then two members of the Swat team came out.

Everyone was questioned, their personal details noted and thanked for keeping a cool head.

“Guess having worked for the FBI had more than one advantage”, Monica said, fingers firmly pressed around her glass.

“Yeah, panic is not your friend in situations like these”, Penelope replied. “I do not miss it.”

“I think you were very brave to stick it out that long”, Kenneth added, “with the stuff that was going on in the B.A.U. I mean, I have police training, I worked at Quantico for over a year, but this..murders all the time. I would not have lasted or gone insane.”

“You are right, I did see many agents come and go. Some of them I still think of today. They were really special and talented.”

Monica and Kenneth looked at Penelope and then at each other. Their friend suddenly seemed far away.

****

Derek went tiredly over the latest case file. After many months of futile investigation, the decisive tip had come from a school teacher, having accidently overheard two students talking about the shooting at the office building on Wilshire. It had been an act of revenge over a failed business deal. The shooters company had gone bankrupt because of it, so together with his cousins, who were the student's fathers, they had executed retaliation on the higher bidder.

He decided to call it a night. He was hungry and a little cross. Since the split-up with Christina, he hadn’t even dated. Contemplating where to go, he made his way over to Wilshire, to try out the Asian place close to the crime scene.

Sitting at the bar, he ordered the red curry prawns and a virgin mojito. Still in uniform, he was recognized by the bartender, Enrico, who chatted with him about the incident.

“Excuse me, what did you say? A female FBI agent kept the guests calm?” He had not read anything about this in the case file.

“No, she was a tech whizz working for the bureau. I guess, you still learn some tactics in difficult situations”, Enrico replied. “She is actually a regular, comes here often with her colleagues.”

“Do you know her name?”

“Garcia, they call her.”

Like that morning, many months ago, breath left him.

“You know her?” Enrico watched him curiously. Derek tried to appear professional.

“Blonde, glasses, generous figure?”

Enrico grinned and nodded. “She is fine.”

“Yeah”, Derek replied and finished eating silently.

His mind was anything but.

*****

He hadn’t done anything with his knowledge. He hadn’t gone back to the restaurant either.

Derek didn’t think of himself as a coward. Only when it came to Penelope Garcia, his..he did not even know how to describe what she meant to him. They hadn’t even kissed. Some hugs, some banter, many deep conversations.

When he had left the FBI, he had cut all ties, needing to heal. After he got his shit together, it had been too late. He was in L.A., starting a new life, making it a good one. Sure, sometimes the nightmares came back from that last case, but it had been over 20 years ago. He could handle it.

Just the thought of her hurt, so he had stored it away, successfully. Until that one morning.

Yes, he had the tools to check her whereabouts, but he wasn’t some creepy stalker. He tried to tell himself that it had been somebody else.

Now he knew it was not. It was her. And he did not know what to do. In his dreams though he did.

They left him aching, restless, heated. Her lush body beneath him, above him, beside him. Her mouth and tongue answering his with all the passion that had slumbered so long.

He worked harder than ever, dedicating all his time possible to the cases and his team. It didn’t help to get through the nights.

*****

Penelope parked her car and strode over to the potential client's shop.

They sold household goods in the upper price segment, beautiful glass and table ware, cutlery and most of it handmade, which is why they had decided to put in a good security system.

An hour later, with a signed contract, she bought herself an iced latte at a small coffee shop close to the office, ordering take away ones for her colleagues.

She had just taken a seat at one of the bistro tables when she had a hallucination.

Derek Morgan stood in front of her on the other side of the window. He looked serious and worried.

She sipped her coffee, checking her phone, lifted her eyes up again. He was gone.

Releasing a sigh, she smiled a little at herself. So long ago and still. He had been her twin soul. Their connection had been so deep, or so she had believed, until he left and never looked back. Over the years there had been relationships, good ones, bad ones, none of them lasting, none of them truly significant. Derek's shadow had always been present.

She felt him before he uttered one word. Her body tensed up. Slowly she turned her head.

“Hey”, he said, trying and failing to smile.

She punched him in the chest until he caught her fists in his hands.

“Let go of me”, Penelope snarled through her tears.

“No.” He looked at her. “No”, he said again, his lips covering her fingers.

“You fucking asshole.”

“I know.” His voice was soft.

“I hate you!”

“Yeah.” He leaned forward, kissing her temple.

She sobbed. “Hate you.”

He kissed her other temple. “So much”, he whispered.

“I have to go back to work and I guess you too”, she said finally, her voice scratchy.

“When do you finish? My shift is over at 1900h, we are not on call this week.”

Derek sounded hopeful. “Could we talk? Please?”

“Fine”, she mumbled.

Penelope told herself that he had her address anyway and would show up there until she gave in.

So he would come to her house at eight. To talk. She scoffed to her thankfully empty office. That would go well.

*****

“Derek has a daaaate..”, Luca was singsonging. The rest of the team stared at him with interest.

“Really, boss?”

“So cool!”

“Happy for you!”

“What???” Derek threw out his arms.

“Since you came back from your coffee break you have been grinning like an idiot and humming, boss”, Luca insisted.

If a black man could blush, Derek was a perfect example. The team hooted and he left the squad room rather in a hurry.

****

He had showered, put on civilian clothes aka black jeans, a dark red shirt and his old Nike sneakers.

He wanted to get her flowers so bad and caved, buying her daffodils, her favorite. He hoped she would not throw them back in his face. He rubbed his chest and smiled. His girl could still pack a punch.

****

Penelope stood on her balcony, watering plants, harvesting some ripe tomatoes that would go with the salad she was making. The tofu was already marinated and the potato gratin in the oven.

She shouldn’t feed him or be anything at all like a friendly hostess, but nerves and manners got the better of her. She couldn’t hope he would be late; she knew he was a stickler for punctuality like her.

Still when the buzzer sounded, her stomach seized up and she whimpered. She cast a last look in the mirror. Her dress was black, high necked and covering her knees. She didn’t even wear jewelry. She looked boring.

Then the knock came. She opened the door with a fake smile, not meeting his eyes.

“Please, come in”, she invited him.

Derek stared at her. He took a breath, faltered.

“I’m sorry”, he blurted and dropped the flowers.

Then he kissed her and kissed her some more when she didn’t resist.

“We need to close the door”, Penelope stated when they came up for air.

He reluctantly let her go. “Something smells amazing.”

“Some potato gratin. Are you hungry?” She led him inside the living room that was separated by a big white counter from the kitchen.

“Yeah”, he answered, biting his lip. She swiftly started to fry the tofu.

“Would you mind making a dressing for the salad?”

He was glad to have something to do with his hands. They had cooked together all the time.

It was strange how not strange being with each other in a kitchen felt.

Derek looked for music, finding Alexa on a shelf. “Alexa play Jackson Browne”, he asked.

He went back to salad making, swaying his hips to Running on empty. Penelope giggled.

“What’s so funny, Garcia?” he asked.

“Could it be you haven't changed at all?”

He winked at her. “Certainly not my taste in music. Let’s eat I’m starving.”

Later they sat on the balcony together on the love seat, her legs over his, holding hands.

“I was a coward”, Derek admitted freely.

“Like I couldn’t have looked you up ages ago. Not everything is your fault.”

“But it was me who left, without..without ever telling you..”, he stopped.

“I wasn’t mad about that..”

“Did you know?”

Penelope looked into his eyes. “´Did I know what?”

“That I love you.”

“Yes. I tried to tell myself it wasn’t so that I was imagining it in my dreams.”

“You had dreams about me?”

“Do not deflect, Morgan...What’s your excuse for never getting in touch?”

“First it was the PTSD from that case, it took me years to live with it. Then I was afraid that too much time had passed, that you had moved on, gotten married, had kids, a family.”

“You never did though either? Settled with someone, made it work?

“No”, Derek answered. ”The memory of you was always in the back of my mind. I was looking for the kind of connection I had felt and still feel with you.”

“Never happened for me either. Once, a boyfriend found a photo of us and started yelling at me. I swore up and down that I hadn't seen you in years and had no contact, but it did not help. I got dumped two days later. He was dead sure that I still had feelings for you.”

Penelope’s cheeks were a rosy red.

“And you didn’t bother to tell him that we had never even kissed?” His grin was all too smug.

“Well..no.”

“Why?”

“Because he was right.” This time she kissed him. And there was no need anymore to stop now.

When they were lying in bed; with him still inside her, heart rates almost back to normal, she had her head tucked under his chin.

“If you ever leave again, I will kill you, just so you know”, Penelope said quietly.

Derek smiled into the darkness, holding her tighter to his chest.


End file.
